Pope Francis to address Filipinos on new evangelization

Rome is interested in how a church in Asia like the Philippines would approach this whole concern about the new evangelization, says Cardinal Tagle.

Philippines

October 04 2013, 1:16 PM

Pope Francis will address Filipinos in a Manila-based conference signalling a push for the local church to discover new approaches on ‘new evangelization’.

Manila Archbishop, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, said the Pope would deliver his message at the closing Mass of the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE) on October 18.

The pontiff’s message would be either streamed live or recorded. “The Holy Father will send a message – that’s a sign that they’re really interested,” Tagle said.

“Rome is interested in how a church in Asia like the Philippines would approach this whole concern about the new evangelization,” Tagle said.

“I think they are also interested in what the churches in Asia could contribute to the universal church for these new approaches and new methods in evangelization,” he added.

The conference primarily seeks new approaches to keep the church’s mission to evangelize in synch with the modern times. The cardinal said the conference also aims to win back dissident Catholics to the church and those who think that going to the church is already “obsolete”.

Tagle said that some bishops, priests and lay people from other Asian countries will also attend the conference.

“At the moment, there are six bishops from different parts of Asia who signified their attendance,” he said. “This is not only unity in the Philippines but also unity in Asia.”